It's a...

So between our 16 week and 20 week appointments we’ve had two ultrasound technicians and my maternal fetal specialist confirm and reconfirm that the baby is a GIRL!  You may have also been able to tell this if you follow my pinterest page ;)

Philip and I are soooo excited.  Just like with Emily, finding out the gender of the baby made this pregnancy much more real.  When we found out at 16 weeks it was probably the most at ease that I’ve been all pregnancy.  I’ve finally been able to relax and be excited.  I think it is what spurred me to go into the crazy organization mode over the past few weeks. 

In addition to the excitement it has also been quite emotional finding out that it was another girl.  It took us a day or two to process that we were having another girl.  Just wrap our heads around it you know?  It’s times like this that it is particularly difficult to be rejoicing in our child while still grieving for the loss of Emily.  It’s a weird position to be in. 

One of the things I’ve done to mentally distinguish between the two pregnancies (I’ve been pregnant for over a year now!) is make a pregnancy scrapbook.  I’ve included below what I wrote for the scrapbook about finding out the gender of the baby and how we told the grandparents. Also, check out photos of the scrapbook at the bottom!

Mommy and Daddy were lucky enough to find out early that you were going to be a girl.  We were so excited when we found out!  We went out and bought your first outfit, a sleepy outfit with pink and white stripes and elephants on it.  We were able to tell all your Grandparents together later that week because all six of us went to the Wake Forest/Notre Dame football game.  Mommy walked downstairs in a black shirt with a pink ribbon around her belly.  Everyone was surprised and soooo excited.  Your GMa was especially surprised that we had already found out your gender.  She was at a loss for words.  Your Grandma Karrenbauer on the other hand knew that we had found out and had been trying to trick it out of Mommy all week but Mommy kept it a secret until she could tell her in person.  It was so special to Mommy and Daddy to tell all your grandparents together and in person that you were a baby girl.

After we told the grandparents we called all the aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents the exciting news. 

Another thing I’ve done this pregnancy is decorate my tummy for different holidays.  For Halloween she was a jack-o-lantern, for Thanksgiving she was a turkey, and for Christmas she will be a…hmm you will just have to wait and see. Check out photos of her outfits below!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I will post again soon.  

Love,

Megan

This is how we told the grandparents the baby's gender :)

(I'm almost 17 weeks here)

Our Little Turkey!

(I'm 19 1/2 weeks here)

    

Scrapbook thus far...

Sprucing up the Nest

This Mama is in major nesting mode.  Since I blogged last we've:

• Cleaned and reorganized the garage
• Cleaned and reorganized every closet in the house
• Cleaned and reorganized all the bathroom vanities
• Cleaned and reorganized all the kitchen cabinets
• Reorganized all our dressers
• Reorganized attic
• Made a pregnancy scrapbook
• Organized a memory box full of pictures into albums

Phew, I’m tired!  We are getting a new fridge tomorrow and I can’t wait to organize it too!  This is rather sad I know but it feels great to purge and organize.  Phil has been very supportive of my nesting.  He has helped me out with most of it and even put up with me making him go through every one of his shirts and decide which ones to give away and which ones to keep.  In my defense, a few of his shirts in the closet were over 10 years old. 

In other baby news we found out the gender a few weeks ago!  As I explained in my previous post I’m considered a “high risk” pregnant lady which means we have monthly ultrasounds to make sure everything is developing correctly.  Good to see the baby, bad that I worry each time I go in that something may be wrong.  I just lay there waiting to see the heartbeat and to find out if the placenta looks healthy.  Then a few tears of relief escape when they say everything is looking good.  Anyway, because we have these monthly ultrasounds we found out the gender 4 weeks early.  We’ve been telling friends when we see them but I’m not ready to put it out in blog/facebook land until we’ve had it confirmed at our next appointment in a week.  So look out for a baby gender post next week!

Overall I’m feeling fabulous.  All my previous symptoms are gone.  I can’t believe that I'm 19 weeks which means that I will be half way done next week!  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and look for a gender post soon J

Love,

Megan

Our lovely Halloween pumpkins.

The baby dressed up as a pumpkin for his/her 1st Halloween!  I will be doing this for every holiday between now and when the baby is born.  I'm 16 weeks in this picture.

Zach the hot dog did a great job handing out candy for Halloween.

18 weeks---Phil took me out on a fancy date so I squeezed into a non maternity dress.